Knitting-machine.



E. DUBIED. KNITTING MACHINE. rrLIoATIoN FILED mm1?, 1910.

1,005,620. Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

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E. DUBIED.

KNITTIN G MAGHINE. APPLIOATION FILED JAN.

Patented Oct. 10, -1911.

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E. DUBIED.

KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLIoATIoN FILED 1111.17, 1910.

Patented oet-.10,1911

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E. DUBIED. KNITTING` MACHINE. -APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 17, 1910.

Patented 001'.. 10, 1911.

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EDOUARD DUBIED, OF COUVET, SWITZERLAND, ASSIGNOR TO EDOUARD DUBIED &CIE., OF COUVE'I, SWITZERLAND.

KNITTING-MACHINE. i

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

To all whom 'it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDOUARD DUBIED, a citizen of the Republic ofSwitzerland, residing at. Couvet, in the Canton of Neufchtel, Republicof Switzerland, (whose postoiiice address is Couvet,) have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Knitting-Machines; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact 'descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, whichform a part of this specification.

Heretofore it has only been possible to produce zigzag patterns incardigan fabric upon the single cam knitting machine because the needlebed has to be shifted after each row of meshes. As, however, single cammachines cannot be used for the production of plaited cardigan fabric,zigzag patterns could not be formed in plaited fabric. It is of coursepossible to produce plaited fabric on the known single cam knittingmachines, but on the other hand it is not possible with machines of thisclass to shift the needle bed after each row of meshes, that is to sayto produce what is called shogged or racked work, because two rows ofmeshes are produced in one operation of the carriage and the second rowof meshes begins before the irst is finished and so it is impossible toshift the needle bed between the formation of the two rows. Hitherto ithas not been possible to produce plaited cardigan fabric with shogged orracked work.

The present invention has for its object a knitting machine whichenables plaited cardigan fabric with shogged or racked work to beproduced. The knitting machine which forms the object of the inventionpermits the production of such patterns by the operation of two singleneedle cams arranged at an interval from each other, owing to the factthat when one of said cams leaves the row of needles the needle bed isshifted and when this has taken place the other needle cam enters therow of needles.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates one form of my inventionFigure 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Figs. 2; 3 and 4 are planviews showing the machine with the carriage in different positions;Figs. 5; 6 and 7 show details; Fig. 8 is an end view of the machine seenfrom the right in Fig. l, the supporting frame being omitted and certainparts being shown in section; Fig. 9 shows an elevation from below ofthe needle cams; Figs. 10 and 11 show the zigzag material produced bythe machine; Figs. 12; 13 and 14 show the machine as mounted on a basewith its driving mechanism, Fig. 12 being a side elevat-ion, Fig. 13 aplan view and Fig. 14 an end view of the same; Figs. 15 to 19 showdetails. Fig. 2O is a front view partially in section, Fig. 21 an endview, and Fig. 22 is a plan view illustrating means for adjusting theneedle beds.

The driving movement of the carriages l and 2, or what amounts to thesame thing, the movement of the needle cams 25 and 26, may be producedby hand or by power, such an alternative arrangement being shown inFigs. 12 to 14.

The machine comprises two cam carriages 1 and 2, Figs. 1 to 4, and eachof these carriages includes two plates 3 and 4, and 5 and Grespectively. These carriages are rigidly connected together by rods 27and 28 and the space between the needle cams 25 and 26 is greater thanthe length of the rows of the needles 38 and 39. The needle cams 25 and26 are arranged beneath the carriage plates 3; 4; 5 and 6, Figs. 8 and9, and move the needles in the usual way, each carriage beingprovidedwith one needle cam.

7 8; 9 and 10 represents bearings which are provided with driving boltsl1; 12; 13 and 14 arranged thereon, these bearings being mounted on thecarriage plates 3; 4; 5 and 6, see Figs. 1; 2; 3; 4 and 8. These drivingbolts, see Figs. 5 and 8, serve to move the thread guides 15 and 16.

29 represents springs which tend to hold the driving bolts 11; 12; 13;and 14 in their depressed position, in which the lower ends of the boltsproject below the bearings 7 8; 9 and 10. The two driving bolts 11 and14, see Figs. 5 and 8, have at'their lower ends vertical bearing faces30 on the right and left hand sides; the driving bolt 12, however, hason the right hand side of its lower end an inclined engaging face 31Fig. 5, and on the left a straight bearing face 32.

The driving bolt 13 has an inclined engaging face 33 on the left and astraight bearing face 34 on the right.

The thread guides 15 and 16 are movable and the stops 19; 20; 21 and 22are fixed on the carriage guide rods 17 and 18, see Fig. 6. These threadguides 15 and 16 have at their upper partoutwardly directed inclinedengaging faces 35 and straight bearing faces 36 which are directedinward. At their upward part the stops 19; 20; 21 and 22 have engagingfaces 37 which are beveled on both sides.

40 represents a shaft mounted on the frame 55 of the machine having acrank 41 provided with a handle, loosely mounted thereon. This handlehas teeth on the rear side of its boss adapted to engage with a toothedring 42 fixed on the shaft 40. Then the crank handle 41 is pushed towardthe frame of the machine obviously the machine may be operated by meansof said handle. On the other side the shaft 40 is provided with a clutch43 having a driving wheel 44 loosely mounted on the boss of said clutch.Obviously when these clutch members are engaged the shaft 40 may bedriven by the wheel 44. For the purpose of making this engagement a bellcrank lever 45 is provided, pivoted on the frame at 46, one arm of saidbell crank lever having a handle 47 and the other arm having pin 48which engages a groove in a sleeve 49 slidably mounted on the shaft 40.The sleeve 49 is connected to the clutch 43 in such a manner that whenthe lever 47 is turned the sleeve 49 is moved on the shaft 40, producinga disengagement of the clutch members and making a connection betweenthe wheel 44 and the shaft 40 so that said shaft 40 may be driven eitherby power from the pulley 44 or by hand from the crank handle 41. Theshaft 40 drives the shaft 52 by means of the gear wheels 50 and 51mounted respectively on said shafts. The shaft 52 is mounted in abearing in a bracket 53 secured to the frame and on one end of saidshaft 52 is mounted a sprocket wheel 54 over which passes a sprocketchain 60. Cn the rail 56 fixed to the frame 55 is adj ustably mounted abracket 57 which serves as a bearing for the shaft 58, on which ismounted a sprocket wheel 59 over which the sprocket chain 60 passes. Thecarriage 1 has rearwardly directed arm 61 which is pivotally connectedat the point 62 to a link 63 which pivotally engages a coupling link 64on the chain 60.

65 represents two pins spaced from each other by a distance equal to thelength of a chain member and on each of these pins 65 is fixed one endof the sprocket chain 60. A projecting part 641 forms the turning pivotfor a block 66, screw threaded at one end and into which the link 63 isscrewed.

From the construction described it is obvious that when the shaft 40rotates, its

movement is transferred to the sprocket chain 60, which causes areciprocating movement of the carriages 1 and 2. Assuming the carriages1 and 2 and the thread guides 15 and 16 to be on the'right hand side ofthe machine, as shown in Fig. 3, and that the front thread guide 15supplies white thread and the rear thread guide 16 supplies blackthread, then when the carriages 1 and 2 move from right to left thedriver bolt 14, Fig. 5, strikes against the inner straight bearing face36 of the thread guide 15, Fig. 6, with its straight bearing face 30 andcarries this guide in front of it, thereby bringing the white threadinto the operative row of needles. At first the rear thread guide 16Ldoes not participate in this movement, because the outwardly directedinclined engaging face 33 of the driver bolt 13 slides over the threadguide 16, Fig. 6. As soon, however, as the driver bolt 12 of thecarriagel encounters the bearing face 36 of the thread guide 16 with itsstraight bearing face 32, Fig. 6, the rear thread guide is alsodisplaced by the carriage 1 and black thread placed in the operative rowof needles. The needle cam 26, Fig. 9, of the carriage 2 is so arrangedthat in the movement from right to left the white thread of the frontthread guide 15 is knitted by the rear row of needles 39 and the threadis merely caught by the front row of needles 38; a row of white meshesis therefore formed on the rear. The needle cam 25, Fig. 9, of the car-Vriage 1 then knits the black thread of the rear thread guide 16 on tothe front row of needles 38 while the rear row of needles 39 onlycatches the thread; accordingly at this time a row of black meshes isformed in front. W'hen the carriages 1 and 2 move from left to rightFig. 4, the front thread guide 15 with its white thread is again carriedalong by the carriage 1 causing the thread bearing face 30 of the driverbolt 11, Fio. 5, to strike against the bearing face 36 of the threadguide 15, Fig. 6, and white thread is then used in the knitting. Therear thread guide 16 with the black thread is carried along by thecarriage 2, as the inclined engaging face 31 of the driver bolt 12passes over the thread guide 16 and the straight bearing face 34 of thedriver bolt 13 encounters t-he bearing face of the thread guide 16, Fig.6. The needle cam 25, Fig. 9, of the carriage 1, see Fig. 4, is soarranged that in the movement from left to right the white thread of thefront thread guide 15 is knitted on to the rear row of needles 39 and isonly caught on the front row of needles 38, so that a row of whitemeshes is again formed on the rear. The needle cam 26, Fig. 6, of thecarriage 2, knits the black thread of the rear thread guide 16 on to thefront row of needles 38 while the rear row of needles 39 only catchesthe thread; accordingly a course of black meshes is again formed infront. The movement of the thread guides 15 and 16 is limited by thestops 19; 20; 21 and 22.

From what has been stated, it will be understood that the black threadis always knitted in front and the white thread always in the rear sothat the material produced is a plaited material in which the blackthreads form the front and the white threads the back of the material,although of course any desired colors may be used.

In order to impart a zigzag form to the edges, as shown in Fig. 10, theneedle beds must be shifted after each row of meshes has been formed.This is possible because the two needle cams are arranged at an intervalapart which is greater than the length of the needle bed, as obviouslythe shifting can only take place in that position of the carriages inwhich neither of the needle cams is in engagement with the rows ofneedles. The means for shifting the needle beds are the same as employedfor this purpose and described in my United States Patent #943,921,dated December 21, 1909. When the carriages are in the right hand endposition as shown in Fig. 3, the needle bed should be shifted. When thecarriages reach the position shown in Fig. 2, the lcarriage 2 hasknitted off a row of meshes whereupon the needle bed should be againshifted. After the carriages have reached the left hand end position, asshown in Fig. 4f, the carriage 1 has again knitted a row of mesheswhereupon the needle bed is again shifted. When the carriages reach theposition shown in Fig. 2 another row of meshes has been knittedwhereupon the needle bed is again shifted, this operation beingcontinued indefinitely. The needle bed is shifted one needle to the leftafter a row of meshes has been knitted and one needle to the right afterthe next row has been knitted. Then a given number of the staggered rowsof meshes has been knitted, the needle bed is operated once withoutshifting. By the operation described, plaited cardigan fabric withzigzag patterns staggered in single rows are produced.

The rods 27 and 28 connecting the carriages 1 and Q, may be omitted andthen each carriage may be operated independently of the other, by handfor example. As already said, the carriages are to move one after theother in the same direction, in such a manner that the front carriagestops every time at the end of its path until the needle bed is shiftedand the other carriage has reached it again.

The machine can also be used as an ordinary knitting machine formanufacturing ordinary knit goods. I/Vhen used for this purpose, therods 27 and 28 are omitted and the carriages coupled together without anintermediate link, as shown in Figs. 15 to 17. To facilitate thisconnection, the carriages have perforated extensions 67 and 68, thelatter extending over the former, as shown in Fig. 16, and when in thisposition, they maybe united by screws.

When ordinary goods are to be produced, the path of the carriages may belimited and the machine driven at a greater speed. In order to effectthis limitation, the ends of the chain 60 are detached from the couplingmember and a certain number of links taken away. The bearing 57 is thenadjusted to a corresponding position and the ends of the chain are thenagain fastened on to the coupling member.

1. In a knitting machine the combination of movable needle beds eachprovided with a row of needles, needle cams separately movable over saidneedle beds, the space between said needle cams being greater than thelength of the rows of needles, and means for shifting the needle beds,substantially as described.

2. In a knitting machine the combination of a supporting frame, movableneedle beds provided with rows of needles, cam carriages, needle cams onsaid cam carriages, movable over said needle beds, the space between theneedle cams being greater than the length of the rows of needles, meansfor actuating the cams and each cam knitting one after the otheron thesame row of' needles and knitting the same thread always in the same rowof needles, guide rods, thread guides movable on the guide rods, meanson said needle cams for carrying said Afthread guides and means forshifting the needle beds, substantially as described.

3. In a knitting machine the combination ofmovable needle beds providedwith rows of needles, cam carriages, provided with needle cams, movableover the needle beds, the space between the needle cams being greaterthan the length of the rows of needles, guide rods, connections betweenthe needle cams, means for reciprocating said needle cams, thread guidesmovable on the guide rods, and means for moving the thread guides,substantially as described.

4l. In a knitting machine the combination of movable knitting beds,guide rods, cam carriages movable on the guide rods and provided withneedle cams, connections between the carriages, the space between theneedle cams being greater than the length of the rows of needles, andmeans for shifting the needle beds, substantially as described.

5. In a knitting machine the combination of movable needle beds, guiderods, two cam carriages, the space between the carriages being greaterthan the length of the rows of needles, means for reciprocating saidcarriages, needle cams mounted on said carriages, means for actuatingthe cams and each needle oem knitting one after the other 0n lntestimony whereof, I have signed my the same row of needles and knittingthe name to this speeifeaton in the presence of same thread always inthe seme row of two subscribing Witnesses.

needles, thlead guides movable on said rods, EDOUARD DUBIED. meanswhereby the thread guides are moved lltnesses:

by said earl'ages and means for shifting the T. FANNY,

needle beds, substantially as described. S. A. SENN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

